The Youngstown Champs were a minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 team that competed in the Ohio-Pennsylvania League

Ohio-Pennsylvania League

The Ohio-Pennsylvania League was among scores of minor league baseball organizations that popped up throughout the country in the early 20th century...

 in 1907 and 1908. The club won the league championship in 1907 but disbanded in the middle of the 1908 season.

Origins

The Champs were among several minor league ball clubs that operated in Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown, Ohio

Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, in the early 20th century. The team was preceded by the Youngstown Ohio Works

Youngstown Ohio Works

The Youngstown Ohio Works baseball team was a minor league club that was known for winning the premier championship of the Ohio–Pennsylvania League in 1905, and for launching the professional career of pitcher Roy Castleton a year later...

, which won two consecutive league championships in 1905 and 1906.

In 1907, the Ohio Works' sponsors, local industrialists Joseph

Joseph A. McDonald

Joseph A. McDonald was a significant figure in the development of the Northeastern U.S. steel industry. As superintendent of the Ohio Works of the Carnegie Steel Company, in Youngstown, Ohio, McDonald oversaw construction of one of the largest steel-production plants in the country.- Early years...

 and Thomas McDonald, approved the sale of the franchise to Zanesville

Zanesville, Ohio

Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,586 at the 2000 census.Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane, who had constructed Zane's Trace, a pioneer road through present-day Ohio...

 investors. As the Marion Daily Mirror observed in March 1907, this move raised questions about the future of the Ohio-Pennsylvania League. "For a time the threatened withdrawal of Youngstown portended the break up of the league", the paper stated. "Sharon and New Castle felt they could not support clubs without the rivalry that existed between the three towns". The article added that three candidates were initially considered for the position of club manager: Mert Whitney, a player with a Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

, franchise who previously played first base for the Youngstwn club; Harry Ostdiek, a recently signed catcher from Canton, Ohio

Canton, Ohio

Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...

; and Sam L. Wright, the city editor of the The Youngstown Daily Vindicator

The Vindicator

The Vindicator, also known at times as The Youngstown Vindicator, is a daily newspaper serving Youngstown, Ohio and the Mahoning County Region as well as southern Trumbull County and northern Columbiana County. Founded in 1869, the newspaper currently has a circulation of 62,100 daily and 87,000...

. According to the article, however, the withdrawal of the Youngstown club's previous manager had dampened efforts to secure funding for a new franchise. "The fact that Marty Hogan

Marty Hogan

Martin Francis Hogan , nicknamed "The Indianapolis Ringer", was an Anglo-American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Browns . After leaving the National League, Hogan moved on to the minor league Indianapolis Hoosiers...

 will in no way be connected with the Youngstown team has made the work much harder than ordinary for the promoters", the paper stated. Ultimately, a new club was organized, with Wright as manager. That year, the Youngstown Baseball Company took an office on the mezzanine

Mezzanine (architecture)

In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in...

 floor of the Dollar Bank Building in downtown Youngstown

Downtown Youngstown

Downtown Youngstown is the traditional center of the city of Youngstown, Ohio, United States. After decades of precipitous decline, the downtown area shows signs of renewal...

.

Wright, who was former sports editor of the Vindicator, went on to serve as president of the Ohio-Pennsylvania League in 1909.

Championship and dissolution

The Youngstown club won the 1907 championship in a close race with a Newark, Ohio

Newark, Ohio

In addition, the remains of a road leading south from the Octagon have been documented and explored. It was first surveyed in the 19th century, when its walls were more apparent. Called the Great Hopewell Road, it may extend to the Hopewell complex at Chillicothe, Ohio...

, franchise. The Champs closed the season with an 86–53 record, while the Newark Newks worked up an 86–52 record, placing second in the league. The Champs met with less success the following season.

On June 9, 1908, the Vindicator reported the Champs' claim that two losses suffered at East Liverpool, Ohio

East Liverpool, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,089 people, 5,261 households, and 3,424 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,010.3 people per square mile . There were 5,743 housing units at an average density of 1,320.8 per square mile...

, and McKeesport, Pennsylvania

McKeesport, Pennsylvania

McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the United States; it is located at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 19,731 at the 2010 census...

, resulted from "putrid" drinking water at East Liverpool that made the players sick. The Champs' situation failed to improve, and in the middle of the 1908 season, the club's owners withdrew their sponsorship.

The team was later replaced by the Youngstown Indians

Youngstown Indians

The Youngstown Indians were a minor league baseball club that competed during the 1909 season in the Ohio-Pennsylvania League. The team showed great promise at the outset of the season but finished with a disappointing 46–78 record, placing last in the league...

, which competed in the Ohio-Pennsylvania League in 1909, under the sponsorship of a New Castle, Pennsylvania

New Castle, Pennsylvania

New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, northwest of Pittsburgh and near the Pennsylvania-Ohio border just east of Youngstown, Ohio; in 1910, the total population was 36,280; in 1920, 44,938; and in 1940, 47,638. The population has fallen to 26,309 according to the...

, stock company.